Universal Music Group will start selling single downloadable tracks on the web for $2.00 a pop. The question is why?

It only took these folks 2 years to catch up with the real world, though they are still far behind, and begin to offer digital downloads from the web. One would presume that Universal is going to shoot themselves in the foot, because who in their right mind would pay $2.00 for ONE SONG? Having said that, who would pay for something that they can get free elsewhere, like on Napster, SX and the other file sharing communities?

Universal is just the latest record label, in a series of major mistakes since the emergence of the MP3 Revolution, in the industry to attempt to offer downloads for a price. EMI, Time Warner and Sony have already created ventures that offer downloads of their catalogs available for a price, but they are doing far from what one would consider good business. One has to wonder if the record labels will ever get it. A question that comes to my mind is whether or not they WANT to get it?

Up to this point, the recording industry has yet to come up with an alternative business model that offers the similiar service to that of Napster. Instead, what do they do? The go AFTER Napster and argue that it is the SOLE RIGHT of the recording industry to provide service of this type and Napster is INVADING their area. Is that one of the most childish arguments that you have ever heard? I mean, let us be realistic...they are effectively saying that because the own the copyright then NOBODY is allowed to distribute digital music EXCEPT them. The problem with this is that NOBODY wants to use their shoddy services! Most people agree that, while providing not the greatest quality files, Napster is better than nothing. It's no wonder they are failing, miserably, at online distribution; the recording industry is just a bunch of dinosaurs trying to stay alive in a time when they will eventually, hopefully, die - unless they change.

Martin Bandier, group executive at EMI, said that his son introduced him to MP3 by telling him no name his favorite song. Moments later that very song came oozing out of the nifty speakers attached to his computer. "I almost passed out," exclaimed Bandier, who watched his son queue up many different songs that same day. According to Bandier, the whole Motown catalog, which is worth roughly $20 million on an annual basis for EMI, was downloaded and stored on his family computer - all leeched from Napster in one afternoon. Somehow I would have to question the validity of this claim, especially since Bandier works for EMI himself and therefore has access to obtaining these very files on his own.

Hilary Rosen, head of the RIAA, who is currently persuing legal action against Napster, says that it is time that the FBI gets involved in all of this online file sharing. "The feds need to step up to the plate and deal with it," says Rosen. "They need to change the way they investigate and prosecute violators of copyright law on the Internet. And they need to move fast." She believes that if the government does not get involved and start to get serious about enforcing copyright laws, and online piracy in general, then the impact on the US economy could quite possibly be devastating. Of course, she represents a side of that economy that stands to lose the most, and therefore speaks alot of rhetoric. While there is a huge "problem" or pirating music and video on the Internet right now, the labels are the ones that did not have the insight to catch on early - they are as much at fault as the next guy.

"Let me tell you what else is in trouble here: the Internet," Seagram head Edgar Bronfman Jr. says. "In the end, the Internet itself will not be able to survive if it becomes a haven for illegal activity. Copyrights must be protected online." Is this the end of the Internet? Should we all just pack our bags and go home and never logon again?

"This is a very profound moment historically," Time Warner President Richard Parsons says. "This isn't just about a bunch of kids stealing music. It's about an assault on everything that constitutes the cultural expression of our society. If we fail to protect and preserve our intellectual property system, the culture will atrophy. And corporations won't be the only ones hurt. Artists will have no incentive to create. Worst-case scenario: The country will end up in a sort of cultural Dark Ages."